513 Illegal Immigrants Found on Trucks Headed to the U.S.

Two trucks carrying 513 illegal immigrants — from countries as far-flung as China, Japan, Ecuador, India, and Nepal — were uncovered in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas Tuesday night. The tractor trailers were traveling northbound from Guatemala, and heading to Puebla, a city two hours outside of Mexico City, when police using X-ray detectors at a checkpoint outside of Tuxtla Gutiérrez discovered them. To keep their passengers alive, the trucks had air holes punched in the floors, but the people trapped in the trucks said it wasn’t enough. “We were suffering, it was very hot and we were clinging to the ropes,” said one Honduran immigrant. Each passenger reportedly paid $7,000 for the days-long journey, but was being returned home by Mexico’s immigrationauthorities.